Official closing ceremony of the 3rd stage of Women Grand Prix Series 2013-14 was held in the Gallery of Fine Art of Tashkent on 30th of September. The ceremony was attended by many honoured guests such as the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the Chairperson of Fund Forum's Board of Trustees Gulnara Karimova, the Minister of Culture and Sports of Uzbekistan Minhozhiddin Hozhimatov, the First Deputy Minister of Sports of Uzbekistan Zhasur Akramov, the Head of the Administration of Sports Rashid Talipov, the Director of Tashkent branch of REU after G.V. Plekhanov acad. K.Kh. Abdurakhmanov, the Head of the Administration of Olympic reserve Kamil Bayazitov, the Head of The State Committee for Communication, Informatization and Telecommunication Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan Hurshid Mirzahidov and many others.
]]>ww@aa.com (Web Admin)frontpageTue, 01 Oct 2013 12:48:54 +0000Grand Prix standingshttp://tashkent2013.fide.com/en/component/content/article/1-news-en/319-grand-prix-standings
http://tashkent2013.fide.com/en/component/content/article/1-news-en/319-grand-prix-standings

- Dear Husan Hudaykulovich, congratulations on organising such a great tournament! All players are happy with the hall, hotel and organisation in general. Since this is the second Grand Prix event being held in Tashkent, please share your experience on organising such tournaments.

- On the World Cup in Tromso I had conversations with three of the participants of the Men's Grand Prix, which we organised last year: Mamedyarov, Gelfand and Karjakin, and they all assured me that conditions in Tashkent were the best among all the stages of this season so far. This time we tried to make the tournament even better so we made a special place for the spectators, where they can see live video from the playing hall, listen to commentaries and see all the games, so the players are separated from the media and nothing is disturbing their playing.

Although we only experienced the problem with the flights to Tashkent, as now the weather here is very pleasant, and we have many tourists, so sometimes it was not easy to find tickets for the participants.]]>ww@aa.com (Web Admin)frontpageSat, 28 Sep 2013 08:38:02 +0000Congratulations to Humpy Koneru!http://tashkent2013.fide.com/en/round-reports/318-congratulations-to-humpy-koneru
http://tashkent2013.fide.com/en/round-reports/318-congratulations-to-humpy-koneruHumpy Koneru became the winner of Grand Prix in Tashkent and now has a fascinating 100% result from two stages played!Bela Khotenashvili shared second to third with Kateryna Lagno but Georgian had a better tie-break. Zhao Xue outplayed Harika Dronavalli to take the fourth while the Indian moves to the fifth.The full standings table of the tournament is available here.Photos of the last round and closing ceremonyby Maria Emelianova as well as press conferences of the last round are available at the Photo Gallery.

- This is a first time for me to have so much attention. I felt myself under pressure even before the start of the tournament. Every day the journalists were calling me asking for the interviews, and I had to switch off the mobile in order to concentrate on preparation.Just a couple of days before the Opening ceremony I was ready to give them some of time. ]]>ww@aa.com (Web Admin)frontpageMon, 23 Sep 2013 10:48:59 +0000Round 10: Is Humpy unstoppable?http://tashkent2013.fide.com/en/round-reports/316-round-10-is-humpy-unstoppable
http://tashkent2013.fide.com/en/round-reports/316-round-10-is-humpy-unstoppableBy WFM Maria Emelianova

In the tenth round Indian players Humpy Koneru (on the right) and Harika Dronavalli (left) were celebrating victories over Guliskhan Nakhbayeva and Nafisa Muminova respectively. Before the last round Humpy is leading with 7½ points while Harika has 6½. Kateryna Lagno and Bela Khotenashvili on the press conference looked quite satisfied with a peace and are now sharing third to fourth with 6 points each. Zhao Xue outplayed the former world champion Antoaneta Stefanova although her compatriot Ju Wenjun was close to a catastrophe with another former world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, but managed to get a half-point. Chinese are now sharing sixth to seventh with 5½ points each, followed by Olga Girya, which has 5 after a draw with Elina Danielian.

On Sunday, September 22nd, players enjoyed the first free day. But the most enthusiastic participants preferred to go for a fascinating trip to the Old Town. Olga Girya, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Antoaneta Stefanova, Kateryna Lagno, Elina Danielian and Guliskhan Nakhbayeva together with the commentator Evgenij Miroshnichenko have visited the Museum of Applied Arts for its beautifully hand-crafted exhibits, stopped at the old food and clothes market "Chor-Su" looking for some local souvenirs and delicious, "brain-fuelling" Uzbek fruits and almonds, and those who still desired for more proceeded to the Centre of Muslim Clergy to see the gorgeous Khast Imam Mosque.

In spite of loss to Bela Khotenashvili, Humpy Koneru is still leading by a full point, as Kateryna Lagno and Harika Dronavalli were defeated by Zhao Xue and Alexandra Kosteniuk respectively. Elina Danielian and Antoaneta Stefanova both scored their second full points by winning against Guliskhan Nakhbayeva and Nafisa Muminova accordingly. The only one draw was signed between Olga Girya and Ju Wenjun.

Pairings of the 10th round are available here.For the current standings table please kindly visit this section.

Pictures of the 9th round and press conferences are in the Photo Gallery.]]>ww@aa.com (Web Admin)frontpageSat, 28 Sep 2013 22:58:07 +0000Round 8: Koneru is one point aheadhttp://tashkent2013.fide.com/en/round-reports/313-round-8-koneru-is-one-point-ahead
http://tashkent2013.fide.com/en/round-reports/313-round-8-koneru-is-one-point-aheadBy WFM Maria Emelianova

The eighth round didn't bring any major changes to the leading group as Humpy Koneru outplayed Zhao Xue and increased her leading to one point. Harika Dronavalli and Kateryna Lagno drew against Antoaneta Stefanova and Nafisa Muminova accordingly to keep sharing second place. Ju Wenjun and Bela Khotenashvili also signed a peace with Guliskhan Nakhbayeba and Elina Danielian to stay on fourth to fifth places. In the Russian derby Olga Girya managed to score a point against Alexandra Kosteniuk.

Pictures of the 8th round and press conferences are available in the Photo Gallery.]]>ww@aa.com (Web Admin)frontpageFri, 27 Sep 2013 10:04:31 +0000Tashkent Women's Grand Prix has started!http://tashkent2013.fide.com/en/component/content/article/1-news-en/299-tashkent-women-grand-prix-has-started
http://tashkent2013.fide.com/en/component/content/article/1-news-en/299-tashkent-women-grand-prix-has-startedThe opening ceremony of the third leg of FIDE Women Grand Prix Series 2013-2014 took place at the beautiful Gallery of Fine Art on the 17th of September. The event was attended by many honored guests such as the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the Minister of Culture and Sports of Uzbekistan Minhozhiddin Hozhimatov, the First Deputy Minister of Sports of Uzbekistan Zhasur Akramov, the Head of the Administration of Sports Rashid Talipov, the Head of the Administration of Olympic reserve Kamil Bayazitov, the Head of The State Committee for Communication, Informatization and Telecommunication Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan Hurshid Mirzahidov and many others.

The Chairperson of Fund Forum's Board of Trustees Gulnara Karimova couldn't be present at the ceremony but passed her warmest welcome for the participants and expressed the hope to the future of the Fund Forum's cooperation with the World Chess Federation.